


These Hearts They Race...

by Tonks914



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Community: hp_nextgen_fest, Established Relationship, HP Next Gen Fest 2018, Harry Potter Next Generation, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, Implied Sexual Content, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-07-27 23:03:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16229129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tonks914/pseuds/Tonks914
Summary: Albus thought that three weeks without his secret boyfriend had been hard enough, but now that Scorpius has arrived the lack of privacy in the Potter house may actually kill him.





	These Hearts They Race...

**Author's Note:**

> A massive thank you to my wonderful beta! You’re a comma wielding superhero!

Albus sat up abruptly, the sound of the Floo roaring to life pulling all of his attention. He watched in eager anticipation as the green flames flickered into view, already imagining the look on his boyfriend’s face as he’d stumble awkwardly into the Potter’s living room in the disheveled, yet radiant way that _was_ Scorpius Malfoy. It had been three long weeks since they’d seen each other, and at this point he missed the boy’s cheesy jokes and quirky rambling almost as much as he missed the blond’s lips and body…almost. Now the wait was finally over, and Albus’s skin was already prickling hot with the eagerness that he felt.

One second, two, here he came, three – and then the familiar form of his mother gracefully appeared in front of him.

Albus let out a groan of frustration, falling back onto the sofa and throwing an arm across his face, as if shielding his eyes would make the development less true.

“Nice to see you too, dear,” his mother said, her voice dripping with its typical sarcasm as she flitted passed him and into the kitchen, presumably to greet his father.

“For God’s sake,” his brother groaned from his side, tossing his Quidditch magazine onto the table. “Could you be any more dramatic? He’ll be here later today.”

Albus scowled against his arm and made sure to let every ounce of his annoyance into his voice. “He was _supposed_ to be here two days ago!”

“Yes. I’m aware, Albus. We’re all, unfortunately, very much aware that the Malfoys extended their holiday and it’s apparently ruining your life. But it’s not like he’s the only one you can hang out with, you know? I’ve been asking you to throw the Quaffle around all morning, Lily asked you to play Wizard’s chess, and mum invited you shopping. But, no, apparently you’d rather sit here and sulk all day than cure your boredom so, whatever, I’m done trying to be helpful,” James said, standing. “Who knows, maybe Scorpius had some sense and met a girl or something? It wouldn’t hurt for you two to be a little less…uh, what’s the word?”

“Co-dependent,” Lily supplied from the armchair.

“Yes!” James said. “So come on, let’s go flying or something.”

Albus pulled his arm from his eyes, letting his glare, already in place, land on its intended target for the first time. “No thanks.”

“Suit yourself!” James spat. “You coming, Lils?”

“Sure, why not?” she replied as she stood lazily, stretching her arms above her head before turning her attention to Albus. “You really have been a miserable git the last few weeks. Maybe you could, you know, work on that?” And with that, the duo stomped off to the back garden.

He knew they were right, and somewhere underneath his self-pity he had the sense to feel guilty about it. They just didn’t understand though. Neither of them had ever had a best mate like Scorpius, and then to take the next step and have it be so much more…of course they wanted to spend all their time together, it didn’t make them co-dependent, he thought bitterly. And it wasn’t as if missing his boyfriend was the sole reason for his bad mood. If James mentioned one more plan to finally get Scorpius and Rose together, he might hex his balls off – statute of underage magic be damned. And all of the little side comments about girlfriends from his dad, all the misplaced attempts at male bonding, they just made him feel so angry.

In his rational mind, he knew it wasn’t entirely their fault. No one in his family was aware that he and Scorpius had crossed the line from friendship into something more. It wasn’t as if he thought his family would disown him or anything equally dramatic, it was just another way for him to be different – another way for his dad and him to struggle, and he wasn’t sure he was ready for that yet. He would tell them soon though, he just wanted a bit more time to have something that was just his, and Scorpius was – Scorpius was just his.

The transition into a romantic relationship had been effortless for the duo. Initially, with the exception of the never-ending detentions, it seemed that Scorpius was unaffected by the events of their fourth year. ‘Scorpius the unanxious,’ he had called himself, and for the most part it was true. Any time his sensible mind was awake, anyway. The dream world, however, was one that the blond couldn’t control, and when he was sleeping it was clear that the trauma from the other world still plagued him.

After a week of experimenting with dreamless sleep left him groggy and irritable, it became apparent that Scorpius’s last line of defense was his best mate. Albus was already strangely in tune with his best friend’s sleeping habits and woke with the smallest sound, so the additional responsibility of crossing the small space between the two beds and waking him was an easy one. Usually a shake of the shoulder or a whisper of his name was enough to rouse him and he’d mumble his thanks and roll over, falling into snores before Albus had even climbed back into his own bed. Typically that was all it took to center him, until one time, on the day everything changed, it wasn’t.

Albus had woken with a start, not to the typical quiet whines and mumbles of Scorpius’s nightmares, but to gasping breaths and pleading sobs. He found himself on his friend’s bed, with a silencing charm up before he had even fully registered that he was awake. He had shaken Scorpius violently, chanting his name with increasing fervor. His eyes opened, but his desperation had not subsided in the least, leaving Albus to question whether Scorpius even knew he was there.

He briefly thought of running to the infirmary, but the idea of leaving his friend in such a state gave him an awful feeling in the pit of his stomach. Frantically, he wracked his brain for some way to break through to Scorpius. Strangely, his mind landed on a memory that he hadn’t even realized he had, one that he must’ve buried since he knew it was something he should have never witnessed – his father struggling for breath on the couch, his mother knelt in front of him, whispering quiet assurances. When her words did nothing to calm the man, she had fisted his shirt, leaned up, and –

That was it. Without a second thought, Albus curled his hand around the back of Scorpius’s neck and pulled, bringing their mouths together to meet in a fierce kiss. His need for action had temporarily dulled his desire to assess, instead focusing on the pressure of Scorpius’s lips against his own, the feeling of his breaths slowing against Albus’s cheek. It seemed immensely stupid to admit, but up until that moment, Albus had never considered kissing his best mate. Now that he was though, it seemed a grave oversight on his part because nothing in his life had ever felt this right. When Scorpius started responding, slipping his tongue into Albus’s mouth and pushing him back against the pillows, Albus knew there was no going back for them.

Now, the idea that he could have ever looked into Scorpius’s grey, blue eyes without noticing the perfect crinkles in the corners that, at 16, already looked like they were planning to make a permanent home, or gazed as he mindlessly mouthed at his sugar quills while studying, without yearning to kiss him, or watched him change without wanting to run his hands –

“Hey there.”

The familiar voice startled Albus out of his fantasies, causing all of his limbs to spring out into a very unattractive impression of a starfish before tumbling to the floor. He couldn’t be bothered to care though because smiling down at him was, in fact, his beautiful boyfriend.

“SCORP!” he shouted, struggling to his feet before pulling the blond into a hug. “How did I not hear the Floo?”

“No idea.” Scorpius said through a smile, glancing around the room before placing a too quick kiss on his lips. “Although, I didn’t fall when I landed, so I was a bit quieter than usual.”

Albus’s chest flooded with a powerful warmth, his mouth breaking into such a large smile that he was sure he should be embarrassed.

“Scorpius!” His dad broke in, interrupting the reunion and causing the boys to take a large step back from each other. “I’m glad you could come. We’re all really glad you’re finally spending some time here. I owled ahead to your dad so that I could buy some of your favourite snacks. I got some of that goat cheese you like. Do you maybe want some now?”

“Oh! Thank you.” Scorpius beamed. “That was very nice of you, Mr. Harry Potter, sir.”

Albus’s dad chuckled, “Just Harry, Scorpius.”

“Right,” Scorpius stammered. “ Sorry, Mr. – Harry.”

“Scorp’s not hungry right now.” Albus broke in abruptly, grabbing his boyfriend’s wrist and dragging him towards the steps. “We’re going to take his stuff upstairs.”

The moment the door clicked shut behind them, Albus spun on Scorpius, shoved him lightly against wood, and kissed him like he’d wanted to for the past three weeks. The familiar taste of his boyfriend engulfed his senses and Albus was quickly losing all sense of self-control.

“Albus,” he attempted to break in as Albus made his way to a sensitive spot beneath his ear, “Mmmm, Albus, I wanted to tell you first, I – ah – I told my dad.”

Albus pulled back just enough to look him in the eyes. “What?”

“I told him” Scorpius repeated. “…about us. That’s why we extended our trip. I told him right before we were about to go home, by design might I add, and he insisted that we spent the next two days together. It was annoying but I think he just wanted to make sure I knew that he was okay with it and that he loved me.”

Albus’s brain was reeling, as it attempted to catch up with this surprising information. The couple hadn’t discussed telling their parents before. “He really was okay? About everything?” he asked, and then quieter, “About it being me?”

“Of course,” Scorpius replied with a fond smile and an exasperated tone, leaning his forehead against Albus’s. “He loves you. Not as much as me though. I meant that I love you more than he loves you not that he loves you so much less than he loves me. Although, I guess that’s true because I _am_ his son and…”

Albus cut him off by planting a determined kiss onto his lips, slipping his hands beneath Scorpius’s shirt, leaving no questions about the brunet’s intentions. “Oh.”

That breathy little “oh” might be the death of him. Godric, Albus had missed him so much. “You have to stay quiet,” he whispered, as his hands roamed over Scorpius’s body, committing every inch to memory in case of another lengthy separation. He was just about to maneuver them to a much more horizontal position when he heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps outside the door. He jumped back just as the door was wrenched open and Scorpius was sent spiraling down to the floor.

“Why were you leaning against the door, Scorp?” James asked, extending a hand and effortlessly hoisting the blond to his feet.

“His name is Scorpius,” Albus spat out. “Why are you here, James?”

Had he been less horny, he might have noticed the flash in James’s eyes before the young man pounced. As it was, he didn’t suspect anything until his brother was airborne, and by then it was much too late – a half second later Albus found himself awkwardly pinned beneath his brother. “D’awwww, ickle Albie,” James cooed, ruffling his hair painfully – “this is _my_ room, not to mention I love you so much, why would I want to be anywhere else?”

“Let me up!” the younger boy squawked

“I’ll let you up as soon as you admit that you love me too,” he said, dropping a kiss to Albus’s temple as he turned to the stunned blond on the other side of the room. “So how was your holiday, SCORP?” James said, enunciating in such a way that left the ‘P’ sound hanging in the air.

Albus couldn’t fully twist to look at his boyfriend but the smile in his voice was apparent enough, making him simultaneously angry that he was finding amusement in his predicament, and happy that he now felt comfortable with James. “Uh, it was good. We visited some really interesting historic sites from the global wizarding war,” he answered distractedly.

“Sounds awful,” James replied bluntly. “Meet any cute – ”

“Alright! I love you!” Albus shouted from his awkward position.

“Was that so hard?” James mocked with a lopsided smile, which Albus returned with a scowl as his brother released him from his grip.

“Come on, let’s go downstairs,” Albus said, ushering Scorpius through the door.

A few steps into the hallway and Scorpius caught his arm, tugging him lightly until they were facing each other. “He can’t call me Scorp?” he asked with a smile on his face.

Albus felt his cheeks heat up and refused to meet his boyfriend’s eyes, but couldn’t help the shy smile that crept onto his face. In truth, he had never thought about the implications of why hearing _his_ nickname for Scorpius fall off of another’s lips bothered him so much. “No,” he said, barely more than a whisper.

“Why’s that Albie?” he asked, moving very purposefully into his personal space, making the blush from Albus’s face spread to the rest of his body. The look on Scorpius’s face made it clear that he didn’t mind – no, that he actually _really_ appreciated whatever possessive, co-dependent quality that Albus had demonstrated. He opened his suddenly dry mouth to respond, to kiss his boyfriend, to something when –

“Albus, Scorpius!” his dad called from the bottom of the stairs, prompting the two boys to spring apart, Scorpius bobbling slightly before regaining his balance. “I put the fancy cheese plate in the den if you two get hungry.”

Albus let out a huff of frustration. Maybe he should have insisted on going to Malfoy Manor for the first part of their visit.

“Thank you, Mr. Harry,” Scorpius shouted down. “Potter,” he added in a mumble, as if he couldn’t help himself.

Albus let out a chortle of laughter. “You are such a dork!” he said, smiling fondly. “And Dumbledore, is it just me or is my dad is extra annoying today?”

“Be nice,” Lily said unexpectedly from her door frame, triggering a jolt of panic in his chest as he quickly tried to assess how long she’d been there. “You know he feels badly about how he used to treat Scorpius and he’s just trying to make up for it.”

“I am being nice. I didn’t say it _to_ him,” Albus defended, throwing in an eye roll for good measure. She wasn’t taking the piss yet, so he assumed she hadn’t seen anything incriminating.

“Hi Lily!” Scorpius greeted.

_“Hey Scorp. Good holiday?” she asked._

“Really good actually,” Scorpius replied excitedly. Albus knew where this was going and was not going to get stuck in a hallway with his sister for an extended period of time. “We toured…”

“Nice talking to you Lily, bye!” Albus said, pulling Scorpius along behind him. He heard a distinctive mumble of ‘so rude’ paired with a snort of laughter from Scorpius, but he didn’t let either reaction slow down his progression to the den.

The two boys entered the dim room and Albus turned to close the door, muttering a quick sticking charm – a full locking charm would have been too suspicious if anyone were to try and open the door – before facing his boyfriend.

“Mmm, cheese!” Scorpius exclaimed, making his way over to the sofa table.

Albus caught him by the waist before he could cross the short distance, spinning him and pulling their bodies flush together. “Oh, no you don’t,” he said playfully before continuing their previously interrupted activity.

It was mere minutes before Albus found himself flush on his back with Scorpius straddling his thighs, kissing every inch of exposed skin available to him. They were already breathing heavily, the lazy rocking rhythm of their bodies slowly picking up speed – Albus was in heaven. His grip on the blond’s hips tightened, his own movements becoming more purposeful. “Maybe we should put a locking – ”

“ALBUS! Come set the table.”

“Goddamnit!” Albus angrily muttered under his breath. Scorpius let out a breathy whine, dropping his head dramatically onto Albus’s shoulder. “Mum. Scorp doesn’t care if the table is set properly!” he yelled.

“It’s not for Scorpius. We’re having company,” Ginny retorted, causing his boyfriend to roll off of him with a defeated huff.

“UGH!” Albus shouted furiously. “MUM, why are we having company over _tonight_?”

“Because your aunt says that we need to make mini-Malfoy feel welcome and wanted and all that...” his uncle Ron announced as he came through the door, followed by his wife and children.

“Ron!” Hermione chastised.

“What?” he asked innocently, motioning towards Scorpius. “He knows I don’t mean anything by it. Don’t you, Scorpius?” Scorpius only smiled in return, shifting uncomfortably, but whether that was because of Ron’s words or the tightness in his pants, Albus couldn’t be sure. “By the way, remind me to look at this door after dinner,” his uncle continued, “It was stuck pretty good at first.”

“Hey Scorp!” Rose said, bouncing into the room. “I can’t wait to hear all about your holiday! Mum said that you toured some locations of the global wizarding war?”

Albus groaned inwardly, catching Scorpius’s eyes, noting the flash of apology before his boyfriend launched into a detailed description of his vacation.

Two hours. Two hours of small talk, historical anecdotes, light hearted teasing, and – admittedly – delicious food. Part of him was so thankful that his family was committed to making Scorpius feel welcome, especially his dad, who was making an effort to talk about some of his boyfriend’s more boring interests. It was also great to see the blond at ease while surrounded by a bunch of brash Gryffindors. Truly, it made part of him happy. However, the other part of him, the selfish and, currently, very loud part of him, just really wanted everyone to stop talking and go away so that he could get off with his sexy boyfriend.

As it was, he was stuck at dinner with no end in sight; so he sat, sulkily eating his dad’s delicious strawberry trifle, resigned to make the best of the situation. He dropped a glob of cream on his hand and proceeded to lick it off, unwilling to waste a drop of his favourite dessert. When he looked up, he was startled by a pair of grey-blue eyes eyeing him hungrily. He smirked at his boyfriend, pleased to see him just as affected, and licked another stripe across his thumb. Scorpius licked his lips, allowing his gaze to drift around the table briefly before subtly bringing his hand to rest on Albus’s upper thigh.

Albus froze, not even chancing a breath – he wouldn’t dare, would he? Barely a heartbeat later, and Scorpius’s hand found itself right square on Albus’s crotch. Before he could help himself, Albus made a startled squeak which he did his best to disguise as a cough. He met his boyfriend’s gaze, whether to silently ask him to stop or continue he wasn’t sure. Whatever Scorpius saw there, however, had him squeezing lightly as Albus sucked in a harsh breath.

“Albus, are you alright?” His dad’s concerned voice drifted across the table. “You’ve gone all red.”

“Fine,” Albus said, willing his voice to sound as normal as possible.

“Do you want to get some air?” Scorpius asked, feigning concern.

“Yeah, yes,” Albus said, jumping to his feet. “I’m just a little overheated. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he announced to the table before, practically launching himself out the back door.

He stood against the side of the house trying to catch his breath and willing his body to relax when he heard the back door open and close again. “I thought it best if I checked on you. You really had gone all red,” Scorpius said with a mischievous smile.

“You are evil,” Albus said, laughing.

Scorpius bit his lip, glancing around the back garden, and Albus groaned at the sight in spite of himself. “Come on,” the blond said, grabbing his hand and leading him towards the Quidditch shed.

When the door to the shed finally fell shut behind them, Albus was sure that a hard breeze could have set him off. So, the fact that he was surviving the sight of Scorpius frantically kissing him and the sensation of their bodies rubbing against one another was nothing short of a miracle.

“We have to be fast,” Scorpius said, ripping Albus’s shirt off and simultaneously backing him up against a rack of old training brooms that had long been purposeless in the Potter home.

“Ha! Not a problem right now.” Albus replied breathlessly. “God. Fuck. Take your shirt off, I need to see you. Please.”

Scorpius ripped his shirt over his head and dove back in for more kisses, struggling with the fly on Albus’s trousers all the while. He groaned in frustration, and Albus volunteered his own hands to assist in the effort when –

“Oooh, oh my!” someone squealed.

Albus had heard the saying ‘like a deer in headlights’ many times throughout his life, but it was not until this moment that he fully understood its meaning. The two boys were completely immobilized by fear – they at least had the sense to stop kissing, but could do nothing more than stare at each other in wide-eyed terror for at least ten seconds. Uncle Ron was here – after dinner Quidditch, why hadn’t he thought of that?

“Holy shit!”

“I knew it!”

“Sticking charm!”

“NO WAY!”

“Boys, how long has this been going on?” Ginny Potter’s tone brokered no room for silence. The boys separated, attempting to re-dress with as much dignity as possible.

“Mum, we just saw them five minutes ago so I’d say…”

“I meant their relationship, James, not…this.”

Albus squeezed his eyes shut. Why did it have to be his whole family? “Uh…about six months...” he answered sheepishly.

His father was completely red in the face but made it a point to look his son in the eyes. “It looks like we should maybe have had a talk with you two,” he stammered. “You can’t…I mean, you need to…um, there are ways to go about all this safely.”

Albus closed his eyes again, willing his body to apparate wandlessly anywhere but here.  
“OH! You mean like a sex talk?” Scorpius squeaked out loudly. “Well, I can assure you that Albus and I know all about that!”

Someone, James probably, let out a snort of laughter. Albus made a mental note to kill him later. “Scorp!” Albus warned through gritted teeth.

“Oh, I didn’t mean…I just meant that there are a surprising number of helpful volumes in the Hogwarts library and I’ve read all of them. Albus, well, you know how Albus feels about non-fiction works, but I was quite proud of him for sitting through the important bits.”

“Dumbledore, this is better than Christmas morning!” James announced.

“James!” Harry chided. “Okay, everybody out! We need to have a private discussion with the boys.”

The Granger-Weasleys and Lily made a quick exit, but James held back a moment. “James, your father said out,” Ginny said.

“I know, just…go easy on them, okay? They hadn’t seen each other for weeks and this isn’t the most private house…”

“Noted,” Ginny said, an amused smile playing at her lips. “Now out.”

James flashed Albus an apologetic smile which Albus returned easily, and left the shed. As the door slammed shut and his parents turned to face them, Scorpius grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers. Whatever happens, Albus thought happily, at least we can do this now, and he gave his boyfriend’s hand a squeeze.

 

An hour later, Albus left a shockingly chipper Scorpius in his bedroom while he joined James in the bathroom to get ready for bed.

“How was it?” James asked grimly after spitting out a mouthful of toothpaste into the sink.

“It went exactly as you’d have expected,” he said, grabbing his toothbrush from the holder. “They mostly wanted to make sure that I felt accepted but paired it with an embarrassing sex talk with the both of us.”

“Ha! That’s rough,” he said sincerely. “I can’t believe Scorp stayed for that – he must really like you, Albus. When Annie Kettletoft’s dad walked in on us with her hand down my pants, I Apparated out of there so fast that I splinched off half of my eyebrow.”

Albus let out a bark of laughter from behind his toothbrush. “Better your eyebrow than other things.”

Instead of laughing, James turned to him, suddenly serious. “I wish you would’ve told me, but I understand why you didn’t. I know I haven’t always been great to you. All that I can do now, though, is try to make up for everything and be the kind of brother who you can maybe... talk to one day.” Albus wasn’t sure what to say, so he just watched as James replaced his toothbrush and continued, “so to start, I’m going to go into our room, climb out of the back window, sneak through the wards, and apparate to Ted’s where I will be staying until exactly 6:00 am tomorrow morning.”

Albus’s mouth dropped open, not daring to believe. “Are you serious?” he asked.

James shot him his usual lopsided grin and nodded. Albus launched himself at his brother throwing his arms around his neck. “I love you, Jamie.”

“I love you too, Albie,” James replied, squeezing him back once and then landing a light punch to Albus’s arm, before leaving the bathroom.

When Albus made his way to the bedroom, he found it gloriously occupied by only one person – one very bewildered looking person. “He just…” Scorp started.

“Yep.”

“Will he…?”

“Nope.”

“So we…?”

He didn’t answer him with words; he answered him with a kiss, pulling his boyfriend towards the bed and falling on top of him in a heap of soft laughter and tangled limbs.

All in all, it had been a really great day.

**Author's Note:**

> This work is part of the 2018 HP Next Gen Fest. The creator will be revealed on November 30.


End file.
